Abia police arrest robbery suspect involved in cultism

A member of a robbery gang, Uchechukwu Ukaegbu, who had been on the wanted list of the police, has been arrested by the Abia State Police Command.

Disclosing this during a press briefing, the state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, said that the arrest was made possible through the synergy the state command had been having with other security agencies.

According to Oyebade, “on February 3, officers of the Nigerian Army, 144 Brigade Ohafia, at a check point in Aba, arrested Ukaegbu (22) of 17, Ugorji Street, Aba, and handed him over to the operatives of the Central Police Station, Aba.

He added that when the suspect was interrogated, he confessed to belonging to a notorious robbery gang which was smashed in 2016, with one of the members, Divine Nwadike a.k.a Chigbo remanded in prison after his arraignment in court.

Items recovered from Ukaegbu, according to the police commissioner, included a locally-made revolver pistol, a 9mm ammunition, a locally-made single-barrel shortgun, 38 AK-47 ammunition, 16 live cartridges and nine SIM cards of various networks.

He stated further that he would be arraigned in court as soon as investigations were completed.

In an interview with Metro, Ukaegbu said that he was into cultism and robbery, but said that he was not on a robbery mission the day he was arrested.

“I stay with a friend who sells phones at St Michaels Street, Aba. I started robbery two years ago through Divine Nwabuisi a.k.a.Chigbo. He is a cultist belonging to Vikings cult group. One day, he asked me to accompany him to the initiation ground and I got initiated. My cult name is High Sea.

“He usually called me on phone and has guns. The only place he took me to for robbery was a supermarket. We also attacked rival cult members belonging to Aye Confraternity on Okigwe Road,” Ukaegbu told Metro.

“On how he came about the gun recovered from him, the suspect said it was Divine who called him to accompany him to cult meeting.

“He was the number one man and he said he was using the gun and ammunition to defend his position so that he would not be unseated. We were there when the police came and we fled in different directions. They recovered the bag containing the arms and ammunition,” the suspect stated.

One of the victims of the suspect, Chibike (surname withheld) told Metro that Ukaegbu was one of those who attacked him and his mother one night.

“On January 13, while my sister and I were going home with my mother, a trader at St Michael’s Street, Aba, after closing from the shop, some boys emerged from the dark.

“One of them pointed a gun at me and I stopped. They collected our phones, wristwatches, wallets and cash. They were five in number and I saw their faces clearly. I can recognise them anytime I see them. If not for the gun they had, I would have challenged them,” Chibike said.

Metro learnt that two other members of Ukaegbu’s gang had also been arrested by the police. They were said to have robbed a lady of her valuables, including a phone, with the SIM card of the lady recovered from them. During interrogation, one of the suspected reportedly told the police that he acted on Ukaegbu’s directive to rob the lady.